Palestinian Islamic Jihad militants said they carried out an attack on an Israeli army jeep in the occupied Gaza Strip today and Arab television stations said at least one soldier was killed.
However, an Israeli military spokesman said the militants killed an Israeli civilian and wounded three soldiers in the ambush. He said the militants used a bomb in the attack.
It was the first reported attack on Israeli forces in occupied territories since the election on Sunday of moderate Mr Mahmoud Abbas as Palestinian president. Mr Abbas wants militants to cease fire to help him revive peace talks with Israel.
Earlier, Israeli soldiers shot dead two Palestinians in a West Bank raid, in the first Israeli raid since the election. Soldiers surrounded a house in Qarawat Bani Zeid, a village north of Ramallah, and ordered out the occupants in an attempt to seize the Hamas militants, a military spokeswoman said.
"After everyone left the house, the forces entered and two men opened fire on them. The troops returned fire and both (gunmen) were killed," she said, adding that both of the Palestinians were the wanted men.
Overnight, soldiers backed by tanks and helicopters raided an area near Gaza City and arrested four militants, including a member of Hamas, an Islamist faction that seeks Israel's destruction, the army said.
An Islamic Jihad spokesman in Gaza said two gunmen from the group ambushed an Israeli jeep outside the Jewish settlement of Morag, detonating a bomb and firing on the vehicle.
"Two would-be martyrs from the Islamic Jihad carried out the operation, ambushing a military jeep near the settlement of Morag. They blew up the jeep with a huge explosive device and then sprayed the jeep with gunfire, setting it ablaze," he said.
One of the militants was killed during the attack while the other was fighting other Israeli soldiers, he said.